She’s almost kicked the habit, so I’m in full research mode in choosing a booster seat. There’s so many choices and features, it’s mind boggling.

I’m starting with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ratings, which fits a crash test dummy into various seats to see how the belt fits. They recommend that the belt meet the mid-shoulder (not too high at the neck or low on the arm,) and lies flat across the thighs (not across the abdomen).

I’m also looking at the average cost of these recommended seats, which varies from $50 for a basic backless seat to over $250 for a trendy Britax or Clek seat. We plan on spending somewhere in the middle of that range. We spent big on our two Britax toddler seats; although highly rated, I think we ended paying for the brand name more than anything.

My next stop is the Consumer Search site, where they collect reviews of car seats (and all kinds of other products,) from around the web in a nicely organized way—it’s a fast way to get a read on who is saying what about particular models.

Based on reviews and ratings, they recommend seats in categories like Best overall booster seat, Best five-point harness booster seat , Best backless booster seat and Best portable high-back booster seat. They also do all types of children’s products like strollers, cribs, high chairs and carriers.

Pay attention to the change in recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics released last week. They issued new guidance on when children should make the transition from rear to front-facing seats and extended the age for using seats altogether. Children should be rear facing until age two (up from one year old,) and be in a booster until age 8, or 4 foot 9, up from 6 years old or 60 pounds. Read Register reporter Landon Hall’s blog post on these changes.

My wife insisted that Kate be rear-facing and in the middle back seat until two, as it makes sense that it would be safer in a frontal crash because the impact is distributed across the child’s entire body.

Another one of my criteria is ease of use. Getting Kate buckled in the five-point harness in her existing car seat takes Herculean effort to get the buckle to click. Ever try to buckle the seat with your child wearing baggy or over sized clothes? I curse it every single day.

Maybe Kate can even learn to buckle herself in at some point. No matter which seat we end up getting, using the car’s regular seat belt will make getting in and out of the car much quicker.

I do recommend going to a place like Babies R Us, where you can insert the car seats on an actual auto bench seat, which allows you evaluate belt positions, comfort and features for your child.

Final criteria: I need to find one that has a flowery print and cup holders, the most important features to my daughter.

TELL ME: What do you look for in a car seat? Can you recommend a seat to me?

Mark Uyemura has officially traded in his bachelorhood to go all in to the dad life. When not mowing his spacious lawn, fixing something on his 80-year old house, or detailing the 16-inch plastic wheel covers on his minivan, he’s at his day job continuously improving the Orange County Register’s web site. Mark is a Cal State Fullerton grad, and lives in nearby Brea with his wife, Andrea, 5-year-old daughter, Kate, and two trusty old dogs, Cooper and Andy.

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